INDIANA HOKTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 251 



crop, if possible, beside a coni crop, that will admit of thorough culture 

 during the growing season, so that the young trees wMU receive the proper 

 care. 



We set our trees in straight rows each way. thirty feet apart and as 

 nearly north and south and east and west as possible. 



To enter into detail: We tirst get a start at one corner of the field 

 with the square, and set a stake where each tree'is to be set. Then with 

 two slats nine feet long by three inches wide and one inch thick, with a 

 notch in the center and a hole in each end. we are ready to make the 

 holes and set the trees. One man, who is handy with the spade, takes 

 one of these slats with a bundle of small pins about twelve inclies long; 

 he lays the slat down so that the stake that was set for the tree is in the 

 notch, then sticks a pin in each of the holes in the end. lifts the slat off 

 the pins and leaves them in the ground. He then digs a hole from fifteen 

 to twenty inches in diameter and from twelve to fifteen inches deep. One 

 man will dig as fast as two will set. The parties setting the tree place 

 the other slat over the pins left by the digger and fit the tree into the 

 notch so that the tree leans a little to the southwest, with probably the 

 best roots on the Avest or southwest, to act as an anchor. After the fine 

 loose soil has been fingered in about the roots and the tree is set, the slat 

 is removed and your tree will be just where you set your stake. Every- 

 thing else being equal a tree will grow just as well if not in exact line 

 with the others, l)ut the future of that tree very much depends upon how 

 it is set. Too much pains can not be taken to give it the right start. 



The roots should be examined and all the broken ones taken out. 

 Some of the very long ones cut* back, and the ends of all, from the size 

 of a small pencil up, shoiild be clipped with the slope on the under side, 

 and it should be set about three inches lower than it was in the nursery, 

 and I repeat that the soil should come in firm and close contact with all 

 the roots, the under side as well as the top. We use a small tamper stick 

 until all the roots are covered and firmed with the foot so that when we 

 have finished we are sure that that tree will grow. We usually trim the 

 tree after it is set. 



If the ground is in good condition and a good healthy tree, set early 

 in the spring or late in the fall, in well drained, fertile soil, the roots 

 properly trimmed and set the proper depth witli the top soil firmed 

 around the roots— all the roots— and especially where they start from the 

 tree, the ends and between the ends. I see no reason why that tree 

 should not grow, and yet, if any one of the conditions are neglected, you 

 hazard the chance of success. 



I have not raised the question as to which is the best time— fall or 

 spring — for setting, for all of our trees have been set in the spring and 

 with fairly good success. If there is any one thing that is essential, it 

 would be to put a shield of some kind around the body of the tree to 

 protect it from the tree borer. 



